From Dniepopetrovsk

Uri Ohali, Hefzibah Project Director for the former USSR, Jewish Agency Shaliach, from our Center in Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine  

 
40 young teachers participated in the worldwide Video Conference from our center in Dniepopietrovsk. They were all graduates of the Bet Channah Academic Teachers' College, established by Or Haner and operating under the aegis of the Israel Ministry of Education and the Jewish Agency for Israel. The participants hailed from all over the former Soviet Union, including as far away as Ufa, Perm and Baku.   The guests of honor and the audience in the Israeli studio were amazed at the fluent Hebrew spoken by our group, and when one teacher from Donetsk asked in Hebrew whether there are people today sufficiently courageous to rescue Gilad Shalit, the moderator cautiously asked her to repeat her question in Russian.   At the end of the transmission, all the teachers felt very privileged to have been able to talk personally with the heroic figures involved in the Entebbe Rescue and convinced that they could convey their impressions to their students.  

From Buenos Aires.
Yehudit Zadunaisky, Director, Bamah and Jewish Agency Shlicha, Buenos Aires, Argentina:

We have met on many previous occasions through conference screens: We have shared events at the Kotel and the Hebrew University, engaged with Holocaust survivors, soldiers, lecturers and program participants, and it has always given us a sense of almost being there with you, in our ongoing efforts to have educators and students from the Diaspora ascend the technological bridge and so move a little closer to Israel.   Yesterday's video conference was a landmark event. Young people studying in Jewish schools in Argentina were able to literally feel both the faith of this Israeli who is considered the "salt of the earth" in his own country and among his own people, and the significance of "Klal Yisrael" (the House of Israel), in their on-screen encounter and possibly their first-ever awareness that Jews like themselves in Dniepro, Moscow and Kiev are present together with them, at the same moment in time.   "30 Years to Entebbe" offered us an opportunity to touch a page in History, but even more to touch the actors who created that History - those who continue to choose to be part of it.   The video conference gave the teachers a chance to create an awareness among our students that Gilad Shalit's destiny, and our own, is the same as that of the Entebbe hostages, and the State of Israel, which resolved to return them and bring its people home.   Once again, our heartfelt thanks from the staff here at Bamah, in Argentina - to you and the technical staff who helped us to become part of this event and transformed it into an experience that brought us closer and strengthened our sense of identity.  

Producer: Alain Attar - The eLearning & Resource Division. 

DVD of the event available (Hebrew) 

The video conference was attended by several guests from overseas, including Aura Levin-Lipski, Publisher of the Jewish Australia Online Network. This is what she wrote about her experience:  

Congratulations on the Entebbe experience
 
I am writing to congratulate you on the outstanding achievement of the Entebbe international videoconference that took place at the Jewish Agency at Kiryat Moriah on Tuesday July 4, 2006.
On a professional note, your entire team did an amazing job.  Of course special mention must go to the compere of the afternoon. He did an outstanding job with a difficult task that required extreme delicacy and sensitivity at certain points. His relaxed good nature and humour with the international groups on video, and the participants in the room, made it all come together so meaningfully. The tasteful and appropriate translations, especially in the moving phone conversation with the Captain, were also a highlight.

What a team you all are. A credit to the Jewish Agency and the Jewish people.
 
Thank you for inviting me to be an observer at this momentous and special occasion. I will never forget the experience.
 
Sincerely
 
Aura Levin Lipski
Publisher
Jewish Australia Online Network The internet home of: Jewish Australia.com, The gateway to Jewish Australia
http://www.jewishaustralia.com
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1150885919327  

Background Information, Photo Gallery and Links on the Entebbe Rescue  

For all videoconference productions and consultancy please contact Alain Attar